Getting Out of a Rut

Brent Vaughn (left) found his way out of a plateau and won the U.S. cross country championships last year, while James Carney rebounded from a string of injuries and mediocre races to set a new PR (2:12:23) at the Jan. 14 U.S. Olympic trials.Image by

This is worth writing again, because if you’re reading this and you’re stuck waiting for that elusive breakthrough, no matter how long you’ve been there, you are not alone.

Again, every runner hits a plateau. We all do.

Let’s first turn to the pros for solace. Two years ago, Morgan Uceny, who dominated the 1500m in the Diamond League last year and ran a world-leading 4:00.06, finished sixth at the U.S. outdoor championships in the 800m event. The best she could manage in the 1500m that year was 9 long seconds slower than her 2011 best. Still not convinced that everyone struggles with plateaus? How about the tale of Scott Bauhs at last year’s U.S. outdoor championships? After going through what he called “growing pains” in 2010 (an atrocious 13th-place showing in the 10,000m final at the U.S. championships, where he ran more than 2 minutes slower than his PR), Bauhs found his stride this year, kicking into third place to make the U.S. 10,000m squad for the world championships in South Korea (where he finished 14th).

There are plenty of other examples out there.

So if you’re reading this article, you’re like every runner at some point; you’re stuck at a plateau.

What do you do?

1) Don’t panicAchieving performance breakthroughs sometimes requires a lot of work and experimentation. Don’t think of your plateau as a roadblock. Instead, think of it as a challenge. Finding the “recipe” for a breakthrough is akin to cracking a safe. You have to be patient; you have to try and try again and not sweat how long it takes you. “Keep working toward your goals,” Bauhs suggests.

Team USA Minnesota head coach Dennis Barker agrees. “This sport can be tough at times but even small successes make it rewarding.” Plateaus usually come, he says, because runners are impatient.

2) Don’t give yourself a reason to fail the next time you try for a breakthroughBe prepared. Don't skimp on training. This means doing the prescribed workouts and putting in the right amount of mileage. This means no shortcuts and no excuses. If your recovery period for a 400m repeat is half-a-lap jog, don’t walk it. If you need to run 15 miles, don’t think of ways to stop short when you’re at 10. You have to do this, because, as Uceny says, “You never know if you will have a mediocre race or season but at the same time you don't know when you will have that breakout either. You have to do everything that is in your control to make yourself as prepared as possible for an upcoming race or season.”

3) Go back to improving your aerobic fitnessIn other words, run more easy miles. Though she is a middle-distance runner who, during a race, has to undergo a maximum of 4 minutes of duress, Uceny is running doubles in training — sometimes logging as many as 90 minutes at a time during her longer sessions. She’s also doing long single runs in the neighborhood of 13 miles. Why? The same reason that legendary coach Arthur Lydiard made his 800m runners head out on 22-milers up and down the arduous Waitakere Ranges in New Zealand 50 years ago. Long and slow miles make the body more efficient. When you run long (and run a lot), you increase enzymes in your muscle cells and grow capillaries, increasing the amount of oxygen that can be delivered to working muscles. Uceny specifically credits her “two-a-days” as one reason for her 2011 breakthrough season.

4) Look back at your training logs and do one thing drastically differentMix it up a bit. “I think you are dealing with a different athlete pretty much every year,” says former elite Todd Williams, who still owns the American 15K record that he set 16 years ago. “I like to look at past history and see the things you’ve done to get to this point. You have to not do the same thing; you have to change up your workouts and really mix it up.”

So, for example, if you notice that you’ve been preparing for your marathons by doing mile repeats on the same high school track down the street from you twice a week, consider doing away with mile repeats altogether. Venture out on that trail you’ve always wanted to explore and run the equivalent amount of time there instead.

“When you mix it up, not only is your body physically getting an adjustment, but also mentally you can say, ‘OK, I’m fresh. This is all new and I’m ready to break through,’” Williams says.

Amy Hastings, who made the U.S. 5,000m team for the world championships last summer, credits this type of training change-up as a key ingredient to her breakthrough last year both in the 5,000m and the marathon. (Hastings clocked a 2:27:03 debut marathon last March in Los Angeles and then finished fourth in the U.S. Olympic trials marathon in January.)

As she was ramping up for her first marathon, Hastings altered her training significantly, choosing to hone her focus on just one key stimulus each week.

“The excitement of trying something different really helped me,” she says. “The focus of every week was different. One week it may have been intervals, and then the next it was the long run. It was new and fun again.”

Hastings’ last sentence is the most telling. If you want to really shake that pesky plateau, make your training new and fun again. Running shouldn’t be a source of frustration. You aren’t lacing up your shoes to beat your head against a proverbial wall; you are out there to see how far your body can go — to test the body’s limits.

Remember that.

Finally, believe in yourself. The longer you are stuck in a rut, the more you are inclined to think that you’ve hit the edge of your abilities. You’ve touched the genetic third rail and so there’s no further progress possible, right? Hogwash. Every runner, at some point, experiences doubt. This means the person who just beat you in your last race, running the time you’ve been attempting for a year, probably didn’t think that they were up to the challenge at some point. Change your attitude.

Uceny, for example, never considered herself “stuck in a plateau.” Instead, she says she’s found herself making gradual improvements since college, even if that meant a few races that didn’t go her way. There has to be similar silver lining in your own racing career. Go back to your progress as a runner and focus on the positives.

Your breakthrough may be one race away; it could be years away. The time frame doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you recognize it’s out there.